76
“No, fuck. He blocked the liquor route and now he’s sitting there polishing iron plates.”
It was Jang Ihwan who got out of the luxury sedan.
When he came to the one-room building, he was always alone, but today for some reason he had even brought people in the back seat of the car. Two big men visible behind Jang Ihwan were also approaching toward Taein.
“Really. Hyung.”
Jang Ihwan approached with an absurd expression, met eyes with Taein, and pushed Taein’s cheek with his finger.
Rather than just poking, there was force behind it, enough to turn his head somewhat.
Taein, who frowned and turned his face back to its original position, quickly withdrew his gaze from Jang Ihwan.
Then he picked up a brush to polish the iron plate he had been holding up with his left hand.
Whether Jang Ihwan was angry at that, he suddenly stood up and kicked the fire plate to the side like kicking a soccer ball. With clanging and crashing sounds, the iron plate that flew away rolled on the ground.
“Fucking bastard.”
Due to Jang Ihwan’s sluggish personality, it was rare for Taein to start cursing right away. But today, when the iron plate was suddenly kicked, his emotions quickly flared up. Taein, who stood up almost reflexively, glared at Jang Ihwan who was laughing in front of him as if he wanted to kill him.
“Your true nature comes out right away. Yeah. That’s like dog Taein.”
Only Taein was extremely poisoned with anger. Jang Ihwan in front was only laughing, and the big guys standing behind were also laughing while even pushing each other’s shoulders, enjoying something. Dog Alley gangsters. One of Boss Bae’s establishments was located in Dog Alley, so there were times when he inevitably had to encounter gangsters. On days when he was occasionally dragged to JAM, he would invariably have to fight. Those bastards were making laughing sounds with only the location changed.
His teeth ground and his arms shook. Taein, who clenched his fists with trembling hands, opened his eyes wide and looked at Jang Ihwan.
“What are you looking at, you fucker.”
Jang Ihwan, who unnecessarily said “you fucker” with force, looked down at Taein with his chin raised. Usually, if he were an Alpha, he could intentionally emit strong pheromones, but not even a similar energy came from Jang Ihwan. That was because he was a case of someone who lived as a Beta for over 20 years and became an Alpha later through illegal procedures. The drug used was a type of narcotic imported from Russia, which had the side effect of converting only Beta males to Alphas, so there was demand among some crazy Betas. Jang Ihwan was one of them.
But since it was merely an artificial conversion, Jang Ihwan was at most a half-Alpha. His sense of smell was also dull, and his genital size was smaller compared to ordinary Alphas.
Perhaps having a subtle inferiority complex about this, he preferred Betas over Omegas, and didn’t even look at male Omegas. Even though his father gathered money from male Omegas, he didn’t have much interest in that direction. To such a Jang Ihwan, Taein was only an existence that was bothersome, concerning, strange, and sparked dark curiosity. Separate from the fact that he should be put into JAM, his personal impression was like that.
“I told you, right? That I have no hobby in picking up men?”
Jang Ihwan grabbed Taein’s chin and spoke arrogantly.
“But I want to try picking hyung once. Just thinking about you crying and going with this face.”
Saying that, when he turned around, the gangsters who had been waiting laughed noisily. One bastard who seemed to enjoy dirty conversations with Jang Ihwan regularly even made explicit harassment, saying “Hyung, when you’re done with him, do I get a turn too?” He was one of the gangster bastards who often encountered Taein. Gari. Because his head was big, they called him Gari, Gari, and it spread throughout Dog Alley, so the bastard was more famous as “Gari” than his real name.
After laughing for a while, Jang Ihwan turned his head and met eyes with Taein.
“Are you that great?”
Taein, who kept his mouth tightly shut and only exhaled, didn’t even react to such a childish question.
Knowing how despicable Jang Ihwan was, his anger rather subsided at the intentional words.
Compared to the moment when the iron plate flew away, his neck that had turned red with excitement was gradually regaining its color.
His eyes that had flickered with anger also changed to empty, characteristic eyes each time his eyelids covered them.
Jang Ihwan, who was looking at that face right in front of him, seemed to feel ignored and breathed heavily, “Ha, ha.” Until just now he had been laughing as if it was fun, but something seemed to irritate him again. Jang Ihwan looked at the sky once and then thrust his face forward.
“Hyung finds me funny, right?”
His face had various emotions mixed in it. Mockery, anger, inferiority complex, amusement. It was an expression where you couldn’t properly tell what he was thinking inside. Taein still looked at Jang Ihwan without answering, then turned his body completely to the other side. It was the moment when Jang Ihwan’s hand, which had been loosely holding Taein’s chin, floated in the air. Taein threw off the work gloves he was wearing to the ground and opened his mouth toward Jang Ihwan.
“Cut it out. Cut it out. I’m being polite only so many times, I…”
Usually he would either ignore his words or just say he understood and send the bastard away, but coming all the way here was crossing the line. When even gentle words wouldn’t be enough, he even kicked the iron plate with his foot. Taein still spoke quietly. It was because arguing with ignorant bastards in such a place would only result in big losses for him. If he caused a commotion, the meat restaurant owner might find out.
“You’re going to act like this to the end?”
“I clearly said. When I get money, I’ll send it. The monthly interest I can keep the deadline…”
It was when he was putting the plastic chair against the corner and trying to send the work gloves there too. Taein, who was roughly organizing the surroundings while alternately looking at the ground and Jang Ihwan, had his hair grabbed by Jang Ihwan. Jang Ihwan, who roughly grabbed his hair from behind, tried to say something with his face close enough for their noses to touch. But no words came from his mouth. Only his lips that were raised high as if absurd, and his brow that repeatedly furrowed and relaxed were in front of Taein’s eyes.
“Ah!”
Jang Ihwan left the meat restaurant while still holding the back of his hair. The gangsters standing behind gave space while exchanging glances with each other. It seemed even they didn’t know Jang Ihwan would go this far.
“Let go, fuck.”
Taein was dragged from the corner of the roadway. Even when he cursed “fucking bastard, son of a bitch,” Jang Ihwan didn’t release the strength from his hands. He only said to know your place while continuing to move forward until Taein stumbled on a stone and sat down on the ground. For a moment, a car that passed by quickly shook Taein’s hair even more.
They fought whenever there was a chance, and punched each other until their ears were torn, so this level didn’t even count as painful.
But having to show such a sight on the street, where there were houses where people lived and buildings if you went just a little inside, left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Fuck, Taein muttered as he got up and frowned at the vehicle approaching from behind with blinking lights.
Soon he turned his eyes toward Jang Ihwan, trying to say something, but Jang Ihwan pushed his body.
Before he knew when the car door had opened, his body went into the back seat of the sedan just like that. The place where Taein fell as if tumbling was on top of a gangster bastard’s thigh. He immediately tried to get up and go outside, but Jang Ihwan got in right next to him, and his arm was caught by the gangster. He couldn’t move. The moment Jang Ihwan said “Hey, go,” the car started. From the beginning, they had raised the speed so much that they quickly moved away from the meat restaurant behind.
“Fucking bastard… stop when I’m being nice.”
“Can’t stop because you’re a fucking bastard.”
The Juhang area was small. The distance from the house where Taein lived to the meat restaurant was about 15 minutes on foot, and the distance from the meat restaurant to Dog Alley was about 3 minutes by car. Soon familiar scenery appeared around the stopped car. From around evening, lights would come on in Dog Alley establishments, but more than half still didn’t have lights on yet. The gangsters got out in a rush and Taein’s arm was now held by Jang Ihwan.
He pulled Taein outside. Right next to the car was the entrance to JAM.
Usually it was closed, but today, even though business hadn’t started yet, the door was wide open. Taein was pushed into the passage surrounded on all sides by black velvet cloth. Even when he tried to hit the gangsters with his arms and get out to the surface, instead of the gangster who got hit once, it only changed to another gangster’s face. Such big guys were blocking the back with their bodies, so there was no space either. Taein, who was pushed down step by step like that, reached a room in the corner of the basement floor. It didn’t seem to be a customer room, but rather a door with a separate locking device.
Jang Ihwan grumbled something and opened that door.
From there, the gangsters didn’t follow Taein. Two people. Only Jang Ihwan and the gangster called Gari entered the room together with Taein.
Soon the heavy sound of the door closing was heard, and Taein pushed Jang Ihwan’s shoulder with an angry face.
“Crazy bastard. Open the door.”
Jang Ihwan, who was pushed back one step, was only laughing like a madman. He seemed unable to feel emotions like being ignored or having an inferiority complex anymore. Taein also sent his gaze to Gari, who had often exchanged punches with him. Gari was raising his eyes to the air and scratching his cheek with one finger. His lips could be seen subtly rising.
“You fucking head bastard… you’re finished if I report you. Do you think you can get out like this bastard? Open it when I’m being nice…”
This wasn’t the first time he had entered JAM. Sometimes he briefly crossed the threshold because of liquor deliveries. But this was the first time he had come this far inside, even into a room. For some reason, his heart was anxious.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
